Wood filler mismatch on stair treads - help!

[Leechild]

hi all

I recently took off the carpet on our stairs and was going to redo them with white risers and dark varnished treads. I bought slightly the wrong colour ronseal wood filler and now I'm realising that this will show up when I paint any varnish on. Is there anything I can do to still be able to varnish the treads or will I have to paint them now?

 

[pete50]

You didn't buy the wrong colour what you bought is just crap. I am not being facetious when I say if you ever find a filler that matches various shades of properly let us all know because I haven't found one yet. I suppose the correct way to go about filling wood is cut the affected part out and glue an insert in made from the same wood.

 

[Mr Chibs]

Probably won't be as noticeable once sanded down (the filler.)
If it's still a problem, perhaps you could get a small pot of wood dye, and dab it on the nail heads before you varnish.

 

[Tigercubrider]

You might get away with sanding the unfilled part of the stairs with a medium grade and collecting the dust.
Either totally remove the filler , or enough to recess it, then mix the dust with pva and use that as the filler.

Then sand for finish

 

[Leechild]

You might get away with sanding the unfilled part of the stairs with a medium grade and collecting the dust.
Either totally remove the filler , or enough to recess it, then mix the dust with pva and use that as the filler.

Then sand for finish

thanks that's a good idea and one i've seen mentioned elsewhere. i was thinking as a plan b to paint the treads in floor paint. anyone had any experience with painting treads?

 

[Mr Chibs]

So no carpet?

 

[chris1982]

Please let us know how you get on with it and what it looks like when finished. I like your idea of getting rid of the carpet.

 

[Tigercubrider]

It is surprising how much wear a stair takes

My school building was 100 years old when I started at seconadary school and the stone was very dipped, showing the wear. We use epoxy floorpaint over concrete at work but it generally needs redoing every year

 

[Mr Chibs]

Personally I wouldn't paint wooden treads, it will soon looks scabby... stick to filling and sanding.

 

[Leechild]

Personally I wouldn't paint wooden treads, it will soon looks scabby... stick to filling and sanding.

Ok will try the sanding method first and see how I get on. Will provide update pictures of the final varnish or painted treads.

 

[DaveHerns]

Have you got children? It will hurt more if they fall downstairs if you have no carpet.

 

[Leechild]

No kid

Have you got children? It will hurt more if they fall downstairs if you have no carpet.

no kids at the moment so not a problem at the moment

 

[EmyJ]

If your filler is water-based, get some acrylic tube colors which are rich, deep pigmented colour sources and their carrier will be compatible with your filler product. Learn to colour the filler before application.

 

[phatboy]

The tiniest bit of water on the stairs + someone in a hurry = broken bones. Carpet for stairs, always!